Norway’s crown prince now King Haakon VIII
COPENHAGEN, Denmark—Norway has a new king, whose tasks will include stabilizing the Scandinavian country’s monarchy and boosting the royal family’s popularity after his wife’s past contacts with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his stepson’s rape conviction.
Crown Prince Haakon, 53, became King Haakon VIII when his father, Harald V, died on Friday at 89. Haakon adopted the motto, “All for Norway,” that dates back to his great-grandfather. His wife became Queen Mette-Marit, while his oldest child became Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra and the heir to the throne.
Haakon knows the ropes. As his father aged and his health began to fail in recent years, the prince stepped in as the country’s regent on several occasions.
Norway’s monarchy has old roots, tracing its origins to King Harald Fairhair in the ninth century. When Norway regained its independence from Sweden in 1905, three-quarters of voters in a national plebiscite approved restoring the monarchy. Today, the role is largely symbolic as the power lies with an elected parliament, but the country’s royal family retains celebrity and a role in promoting the wealthy nation around the world.
Firstborns
Haakon is the younger child of Harald, born two years after his sister, Princess Märtha Louise. As the oldest male, however, he became heir to the throne when his grandfather, King Olav, died in 1991. The Norwegian Constitution was altered in 1990 to allow future firstborns—regardless of gender—to take precedence in the line of succession. However, it was not applied retroactively.
Haakon said in a 1998 book that as a child he dreamed of owning a toy shop, but he soon realized that his path was already paved and one day he would become king.
Rock and rap
He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree in development studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, with a specialization in international trade and Africa. In 1995, he graduated from the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy, and he also completed the Foreign Ministry’s trainee program for diplomats.
An avid surfer, skier and sportsman, he said that if he hadn’t been a royal, he would have been a surfer. A music lover—he likes rock and rap—he attended festivals across Europe as a youth.
Haakon knew his relationship would face an uphill battle for acceptance when he met Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby at a popular music festival in Norway in 1999. She was a single mother whose son’s father had been sentenced to prison for cocaine possession, and she had been seen at parties where illegal drugs were used.
The country was divided. Some cheered for love, others were skeptical. The Norwegian newspaper VG wrote in 2000 that Haakon “lives closer to the people than any other heir to the throne before him.”
Haakon said that in the early 1990s, “a youth culture emerged in Oslo” and he acknowledged that Mette-Marit was “an active part of this environment at the time.”
